Background: Parathyroid carcinoma is a rare malignancy with high recurrence rates. Liquid biopsy is a stratifying tool in disease recurrence/progression in other malignant processes. This study sought to assess the feasibility and application of liquid biopsy in parathyroid carcinoma and its impact on surveillance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Biochemical cure in normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism (nPHPT) is defined as parathyroid hormone (PTH) level normalization 6 months after parathyroidectomy. However, recent studies show that a significant number of nPHPT patients have persistent PTH elevation postoperatively. We sought to correlate changes in PTH levels with skeletal outcomes after parathyroidectomy in nPHPT patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrecision oncology has opened a new era in cancer treatment focused on targeting specific cellular pathways directly involved in tumorigenesis. The REarrangement during Transfection () proto-oncogene is involved in the pathogenesis of various thyroid cancer subtypes. Mutations in give rise to both hereditary and sporadic medullary thyroid cancer (MTC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To determine the association between vitamin D status and morbidity and mortality in adult hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients METHODS: We performed a retrospective chart review study in COVID-19 patients aged ≥18 year hospitalized at Boston University Medical Center between March 1 and August 4, 2020. All studied patients tested positive for COVID-19 and had serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) results measured within 1 year prior to the date of positive tests. Medical information was retrieved from the electronic medical record and was analyzed to determine the association between vitamin D status and hospital morbidity and mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Primary hyperparathyroidism reduces bone mineral density, which increases the risk of fracture.
Objective: To investigate differences in bone mineral density and clinical characteristics after parathyroidectomy between men and women (premenopausal and postmenopausal) with sporadic primary hyperparathyroidism.
Design: This is a retrospective study of adult patients who underwent parathyroidectomy in a tertiary referral center from 1990 to 2013.
Purpose: The BRAF oncogene modulates the papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) microenvironment, in which pericytes are critical regulators of tyrosine-kinase (TK)-dependent signaling pathways. Although BRAF and TK inhibitors are available, their efficacy as bimodal therapeutic agents in BRAF-PTC is still unknown.
Experimental Design: We assessed the effects of vemurafenib (BRAF inhibitor) and sorafenib (TKI) as single agents or in combination in BRAF-PTC and BRAF cells using cell-autonomous, pericyte coculture, and an orthotopic mouse model.
Objective: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (PNETs) are the most common cause of death in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1). Women have been shown to have improved survival, which may suggest a possible protective effect of female sex hormones. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between estrogen exposure and PNET tumourigenesis, tumour growth and survival in female MEN1 patients with these tumours.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We investigated whether the outcome of bone disease of primary hyperparathyroidism differs in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1-associated disease and sporadic hyperparathyroidism at 1-year postoperatively.
Methods: Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1/hyperparathyroidism and sporadic hyperparathyroidism patients who underwent parathyroidectomy from 1990 to 2013 and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at baseline and 1-year postoperatively were included. Preoperative and postoperative dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry measurements (bone mineral density and Z-score at the lumbar spine, total hip, and femoral neck) were analyzed.
Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is characterized by hyperuricemia, hyperkalemia, hyperphosphatemia, and secondary hypocalcemia in patients with a malignancy. When these laboratory abnormalities develop rapidly, clinical complications such as cardiac arrhythmias, acute renal failure, seizures, or death may occur. TLS is caused by rapid release of intracellular contents by dying tumor cells, a condition that is expected to be common in hematologic malignancies.
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